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Senin, 26 Agustus 2013

A web site is a software package. By definition, a package is a
ready-made program that is available to users for use to perform some
tasks. These users include non-IT professionals. Thus, a web site
qualifies to be a package like Microsoft Office, Peachtree Accounting
packages.
Before the revolution of The Web (WWW), development of
software package was the exclusive preserve of skillful programmers.
Programmers or software developers develop the logic of programs which a
package will eventually use to function. This logic building aspect of
software development requires high level of intellect. This together
with the intricacies of mastering programming languages made the
development of packages uninteresting and unattractive to a large
spectrum of people.
Following the revolution of The Web, it became
possible for non-programmers to develop packages right from the
inception. These are web-based packages and of course, web sites,
requiring no programming skills. The result was the creation of a new
type of profession called Web Design. A web designer is someone who
organizes a web page by arranging texts, pictures, animations, forms etc
on a page and formats them to produce good presentation. All he needs
do is to make use of any of the appropriate web development tools like
Macromedia Visual Studio and Microsoft FrontPage. Through the Design
section of Macromedia Dreamweaver, for example, you can design a whole
web page without using HTML codes. What you have is a web site. A web
site is one or more web pages. These web development tools are the
equivalent of what the popular package Adobe PageMaker does which is to
organize and format pages of books, magazines, newspapers etc. No
programming is required.
The limitation of web designing is the
creation of static web sites which may be suitable for some applications
but not all. They produce non-interactive and non-dynamic web sites
that are unsuitable for certain applications and needs. For example,
online registration. The role of a web designer stops at this point and
that of a web programmer begins. As a result of the limitation of static
web sites, the need to move further arose. People wanted sites where
they could post forms for tasks like creating accounts online and
authentication of passwords. This led to the development of web
programming languages otherwise known as scripts. Examples are
JavaScript, ASP, ASP.NET, JSP, PHP, ColdFusion etc. The result was the
creation of the profession of web programming. A web programmer is
someone who develops programs for the purpose of performing automated
tasks on a web site. Some prefer to call them software developers.
Example of such tasks are:

Data validation.

Form submission.

Sign Up.

Database search.

Thus, it became possible to develop dynamic and
interactive web sites capable of doing what conventional software could
do on stand-alone computer and network using non-internet technologies.
Online banking, stock broking are examples. These functions can now be
carried out entirely on internet. To develop functional scripts for such
automated tasks, logic building and mastery of the programming language
to use in terms of syntax are required. Most of the programs are
written from scratch.
Can you be a web designer and a web
programmer? Yes, you can. There are people who double as web designer
and web programmer but specialists are noted for doing better in their
respective fields of specialization than non-specialists. Some sites do
not require more than web designing but many sites nowadays require both
web designing and web programming like the multi-tier applications that
have presentation layer, the logic layer that interfaces the
presentation layer with the database, and the data layer that contains
the database. There are even database specialists who design database
and write what is called stored procedures and triggers right inside the
database. The use of stored procedures increases the overall efficiency
of site execution as it minimizes the number of times SQL statements
are parsed, compiled, and optimized during execution. You can see that
site development is quite deep.
The roles of web designers and web
programmers are complementary in the development of web site. You need
to identify where your ability lies and allow that to inform your choice
of area of specialization. If you know you have the ability to write
programs, you can go beyond web designing and become a web programmer
but if it is otherwise, stick to web designing and continue to grow and
sharpen your skills. The truth of the matter is that programming is not
for everybody.
If you are a conventional graphic artist, you will
find it easy to crossover to web designing and if you are a conventional
programmer, you can readily crossover to web programming. What I mean
by conventional graphic artists are those who have the expertise in the
use of tools like CorelDraw, Photoshop, and PageMaker to perform Desktop
Publishing tasks. By conventional programmers, I mean the experts in
programming languages like C++, FoxPro, COBOL, and Dbase.
As long
as you can determine where your ability lies, you will surely overcome
frustrations in your tasks of developing web sites and you will continue
to enjoy what you are doing. If you are a web designer and you have a
job that involves programming which you cannot handle, look for
assistance from a web programmer. If you are a web programmer and you
are having issues with web designing in your task, seek the assistance
of a web designer. If you can handle both areas to a very large extent,
well and good.

Olumide Bola holds a bachelors degree of the University of
Ibadan, Nigeria and is currently pursuing chartered membership of the
Computer Professionals Registration Council of Nigeria (CPN). He is also
a member of Nigeria Computer Society (NCS). He has trained scores of
people for well over a decade in programming and non-programming
courses. He is currently a Software Developer and the Managing
Director/CEO of Victolay Technologies Limited.